For Release: Thursday, July 18

For More Information:
Matthew Koehler, Native Forest Network: (406) 542-7343
Brian Segee, Center for Biological Diversity: (520) 623-5252, ext. 308
Jake Kreilick, National Forest Protection Alliance: (406) 542-7565
Timothy Ingalsbee, Ph.D., American Lands Alliance's Western Fire Ecology Center: (541) 302-6218

Conservation Groups Set Record Straight About Wildfires: 145 Groups Send Letter to Forest Service Chief and Congress

Conservation groups support common sense home protection, say Forest Service is abusing fire plan funds to increase commercial logging

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, 145 conservation groups sent a letter to U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth outlining the conservation community's position on wildfires, home protection and fuel-reduction projects. As the conservation groups explain in the letter, "In recent weeks, some politicians and some U.S. Forest Service officials have repeatedly misrepresented the conservation community's position" on these issues.

In the letter - which was also sent to every member of Congress and the Western Governors Association - the conservation groups make it clear they have always supported "common sense approaches designed to effectively protect homes and communities from fire." As the groups explain, in addition to advocating for Congress to "increase funding for community protection and fire education," the conservation community has "taken a leading role in educating homeowners about the importance of treating flammable material adjacent to homes and communities."

"Unfortunately, the Forest Service has chosen to focus their priorities largely on commercial logging projects far removed from communities, not on effectively protecting communities," the letter explains. "[W]hat we are finding 'on the ground' is that National Fire Plan funds have been misused by the Forest Service to promote commercial logging, have not been targeted towards the highest risk areas, and have failed to effectively protect homes and communities from fires."

"For years, conservation organizations have been pressuring the Forest Service to focus its efforts on protection of communities through the use of both prescribed burning and reduction of underbrush, rather than continuing to log our remaining old-growth trees in remote wildlands," stated Brian Segee with the Center for Biological Diversity in Arizona. "The Rodeo-Chediski fire in Arizona - which burned through over 2,100 miles of logging roads and 10 recent timber sale areas - is a perfect illustration of how industrial logging does not fireproof a forest. Far from being a right-wing poster child for environmentalism gone bad, the Rodeo-Chediski fire shows just how ferociously fires can burn through land that had been badly hammered by the logging industry and the U.S. Forest Service."

"The Forest Service, Bush Administration and anti-environmental members of Congress are spreading a great deal of misinformation about wildfire, hoping to capitalize on public fire hysteria and minimize public opposition to increased logging and roadbuilding in our national forests," said Jake Kreilick of the National Forest Protection Alliance based in Missoula, Montana. "With virtually all new timber sales couched in terms of 'reducing fuels' or 'restoring forest health' fire hysteria has emerged as the driving force behind the Forest Service's logging program and the Administration's efforts to 'streamline' our nation's environmental laws."

"It is time for the Forest Service to be accountable and set its fire management priorities where Congress and the American people have long demanded it: fuel reduction and fire protection directly adjacent to homes and communities instead of commercial logging or aggressive fire suppression in remote wildlands," said Dr. Timothy Ingalsbee, director of American Lands Alliance's Western Fire Ecology Center in Eugene, Oregon.

The conservation groups end their letter to Bosworth by saying, "As you can clearly see, the conservation community is deeply committed to the protection of homes and communities. We will continue to expand our efforts to safeguard communities, while at the same time, promote and support ecologically-based restoration projects on our national forests. If the Forest Service supports these goals, we feel strongly that we can work together. However, if the Forest Service continues to misuse National Fire Plan money, the conservation community will continue to hold your agency accountable. The American people and our nation's public lands deserve no less."